10.31.2008

the oldest hebrew writing ever ?

apparently, just down the road from jerusalem, is khirbet qeiyafa, a new archaeological site being uncovered, which appears to be a fortified forward city from the early iron age (i.e, time of David and Solomon), designed to protect jerusalem from attack. among the discoveries was a potsherd, with some proto-hebrew grafiti.

if looks like the site might end up being a counterpoint, across the valley of elah, from the philistine city of gath (birthplace of goliath, where i dug this summer). the director of the gath dig, aren meir, is quoted in the nyt and jpost articles.

on the other hand, the financing of the khirbet qeiyafa dig may be coming from questionable sources, and i'm not sure what to do with that dichotomy. i really hope that the dig doesn't get wrapped up in problematic politics, the same way as the city of david in the east jerusalem neighborhood of silwan.

10.26.2008

everyone loves a parade?

who knew that the feast of tabernacles, known to me as the jewish holiday of sukkot, was the perfect time for evangelical christians from all over the world to have solidarity missions to israel, and parade down the street, waving flags, singing, and shouting that "...for the sake of jerusalem, i will not be silenced"?

well, apparently it was.





the parade is the brainchild of the international christian embassy jerusalem,
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem was founded in 1980 as an evangelical Christian response to the need to comfort Zion according to the command of scripture found in Isaiah 40:1-2: "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem..."
besides the parade, the organization also organizes a whole slewload of other events throughout sukkot.

i personally missed the parade, which traveled down the street right outside our apartment building, but a certain someone took pictures for me, which you can see here. (also take a look at the crazy picture over here).

as far as i could tell, the whole thing seemed pretty benign, but don't tell that to the orthodox folks protesting against it. it seems that christian missionizing is bad, while jewish mitzvah mobiles are sanctioned by God. who knew? go figure...

10.23.2008

shake, shake your lulav... shake it all the time

you may have noticed the beautiful lulav and etrog that i bought for sukkot



and then wondered, how did he acquire such a set? well, right before sukkot, a special market opens up near the machaneh yehudah shuk, called the shuk arbah minim, the market of the four species. the four species being the etrog, and the palm, willow and myrtle branches that make up the lulav.



it's especially busy the day before sukkot



some of the etrogim were on display, but some stayed in boxes. we just finished the shmitah year, in which the land is supposed to lay fallow, and therefore no profit is supposed to be made from agriculture in israel. there's some complicated loop-holes, but the bottom line for etrog purchases, is that some folks say that you weren't allowed to choose your etrog, and had to buy them from a closed box...



but for the lulav, you're supposed to check it out beforehand, before finalizing the purchase



it's gotta have just the right thickness on top, and don't forget the "shake" factor



to find the perfect set ....

10.22.2008

olive picking, and a donkey...



yes, that's me, on a donkey. it was the culmination of a morning of olive picking in the west bank with rabbis for human rights. this effort is intended to help palestinian farmers gather their olives without the need for them to hire additional laborers, and make sure that nearby settlers stay on their best behavior.







more olive-picking pictures are online...

sukkot!

although the holiday of sukkot is now offically over, my blogging on it has just begun!

take a look at my beautiful lulav and etrog:



in leviticus 23:42-43, the torah says that we should ...
live in sukkot seven days; all citizens in israel shall live in sukkot, in order that future generations may know that I made the israelite people live in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of egypt, I the Lord your God
therefore, where better to see lots of sukkot everywhere than in the land of israel, itself?

at home:







at hotels:



and at restaurants:









and even one made out of recycled plastic bags:



lots more sukkot photos are online, enjoy!

10.19.2008

funky fruit

dragon fruit, officially known as pitaya have just started to hit the israeli marketplace with abandon. unfortunately they're kind of bland, but very funny-looking.



and also star fruit, yum!

10.10.2008

dr seuss on sukkot

now that i'm about to head back to the holy land, after high holidays in upstate new york, and making the great schlep to cleveland, it's time to start thinking about where to find the best etrog in jerusalem. meanwhile, i was just forwarded this email ... enjoy!
Rules of the Sukkah
by Rabbi Arthur E. Gould

You can build it very small 1
You can build it very tall 2

You can build it very large 3
You can build it on a barge

You can build it on a ship 4
Or on a roof but please don’t slip 5

You can build it in an alley 6
You shouldn’t build it in a valley 7

You can build it on a wagon 8
You can build it on a dragon 9

You can make the skakh of wood 10
Woud you, could you, yes you should

Make the skakh from leaves of tree
You shouldn’t bend it at the knee 11

Build your Sukkah tall or short
No Sukkah is built in the Temple Court

You can build it somewhat soon
You cannot build it in the month of June 12

If your Sukkah is well made
You’ll have the right amount of shade 13

You can build it very wide
You can not build it on its side

Build if your name is Jim
Or Bob or Sam or even Tim

Build it if your name is Sue 14
Do you build it, yes you do!

From the Sukkah you can roam
But you should treat it as your home 15

You can invite some special guests
Don’t stay in it if there are pests

You can sleep upon some rugs
Don’t you build it where there’s bugs

In the Sukkah you should sit
And eat and drink but never…

If in the Sukkah it should rain
To stay there would be such a pain 16

And if it should be very cold
Stay there only if you’re bold

So build a Sukkah one and all
Make it large or make it small

Sukkah rules are short and snappy
Enjoy Sukkot, rejoice be happy.
____________________________
Notes
1 Maimonides (RMBM) Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Sukkah, Chapter 4, Section 1. The minimum height of a Sukkah is 10 tepachim. A tepach is a measure of the width of the four fingers of one’s hand. My hand is 3 1/4 inches wide for a minimum Sukkah height of 32 1/2 inches. The minimum allowable width is 7 tepachim by 7 tepachim. This would result in a Sukkah of 22 3/4 inches by 22 3/4 inches.

2The maximum height is 20 Amot. An Amah is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. My Amah is 15 1/2 inches for a maximum height of 25 feet. Others say that 30 feet is the maximum.

3 According to RMBM the Sukkah can be built to a width of several miles. Shulchan Aruch also says there is no limit on the size of the width.

4 RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 6.

5 RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 11. RMBM states that one may construct a Sukkah by wedging poles in the four corners of the roof and suspending scakh from the poles. The walls of the building underneath are considered to reach upward to the edge of the scakh.

6 RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 8-10 discusses the ins and outs of building your Sukkah in an alley or passageway.

7 There is a location referred to in the Talmud called Ashtarot Karnayim. According to the discussion there are two hills, with a valley in between where the Sun does not reach. Therefore it is impossible to sit in the shade of the roof of the Sukkah. I can’t find the reference…hopefully next year.

8 RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 6. You can go into a Sukkah built on a wagon or a ship even on Yom Tov.

9RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 6. OK, RMBM says a camel but dragon rhymes with wagon a lot better, don’t you agree. Anyway, RMBM says you can build your Sukkah on a wagon or in the crown of a tree, but you can’t go into it on Yom Tov. There is a general rule against riding a beast or ascending into the crown of a tree on Yom Tov.

10 Chapter 5 deals with the rules for the scakh. Basically, you can use that which has grown from the ground, and is completely detached from the ground. So, for example, you cannot bend the branches of a tree over the Sukkah to form the scakh. But you can cut the branches from a tree and use them as scakh.

11This would be a violation of the rule cited in the prior footnote.

12 Shulchan Aruch, Hilchot Sukkah, Perek 636, Section 1 The Sukkah should not be built sooner than 30 days before the Hag. However, if the structure is built prior to 30 days, as long as something new is added within the 30 days, the Sukkah is kosher.

13 Of course it’s a well known rule that you must sit in the shade from the roof of the Sukkah and not in the shade that may be cast by the walls. It seems that this might affect the height of the walls, depending on the longitude of the location where you are building your Sukkah.

14 Traditionally, women, servants and minors are patur from the Mitzvah of Sukkah. In our day we hope we know better than to read out half the Jewish people from the observance of Mitzvot. Of course, that’s just a personal opinion of the author.

15 RMBM ibid Chapter 6, Section 6 explains that you should eat, drink and live in the Sukkah for the 7 days as you live in your own home. One should not even take a nap outside of the Sukkah.

16 RMBM ibid, Section 10 If it rains one should go into the house. How does one know if it is raining hard enough? If sufficient raindrops fall through the scakh and into the food so that the food is spoiled—go inside!

© Rabbi Arthur E. Gould, Sukkot 1999 - 2001.